


A Dragonfly's Tale

by cellie6135



Category: Les Schtroumpfs | The Smurfs
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2018-12-25 02:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12026574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cellie6135/pseuds/cellie6135
Summary: Clumsy Smurf is the only boy Smurf in all Smurfy Grove. He is worried that he won't find his place in a village full of tough, confident girls, that is until he finds an unexpected surprise waiting in the forest...





	1. Prologue

There is a place. A place that knows no sadness or pain. Where feeling blue is a happy thing. A place inhabited by little blue beings three apples high. It lies deep within the Forbidden Forest by three beautiful waterfalls.

Most people believe that this place is made up. Only to be found in books or children's imaginations.

Well, look again...


	2. Attack

Clumsy Smurf let out a heavy sigh as he slumped onto his bed. It had been a very long work day in Smurfy Grove and all he wanted to do was sleep for a month of blue moons.

Suddenly his whole house shook violently.

He ran to the door and when he opened it he had barely a second to slam the door shut before a ball of fire hit him.

It was another dragonfly attack...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clumsy quickly ran out of the now burning house and saw more than a dozen different dragonflies flying around Smurfy Grove, causing chaos. They were flying through the village blowing fire and stealing food while the girl Smurfs tried to stop them.

Clumsy suddenly tripped up and fell right into Smurf Willow, the leader of the village.

"Clumsy?! What the smurf are you doing here?! Get back inside!" She exclaimed and pushed him forward.

Smurf Storm then walked up to her.

"We've got Infernos, Maismas, Bottlenecks and Daisy said she saw a Snapifer by the gates." She said a fire ball just missed them.

"Any Nightmares?" Willow asked.

"None yet."...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clumsy breathed a sigh of relief as he finally reached the healing centre.

"Oh there you are are. I saw starting to think you'd been smurfed off." Granny laughed while she mixed up some potions.

"What, me? No way, those dragonflies wouldn't stand a chance." Clumsy laughed nervously as he helped Granny prepare for casualties. Suddenly everything seemed to freeze when there was a ghostly wail echoing through the sky.

NIGHTMARE! GET DOWN!" Somesmurf screamed.

Everysmurf ducked as a large, blue, fiery explosion annihilated two houses.

"GRANNY! WE NEED YOU!" Stormy cried as she Blossom ran into the centre with two injured Smurfs.

"Clumsy, give me the fist aid kit!" Granny called as she set the Smurf on a bed.

Clumsy quickly grabbed the first aid kit and went to give it her but tripped. Granny rolled her eyes and grabbed the kit from him.

"Of smurf." Granny cursed before turning to Clumsy.

"Clumsy, we need more smurfroot but it's in my hunt. I need you to smurf over to my house and get some." She said.

"Got it, Granny." He smiled and ran for the door; stumbling a little on the way...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clumsy ran as fast as the legs could go.

He just narrowly avoided fireballs and other Smurfs as he tired the get to Granny's house in one piece. Suddenly there was a blue explosion just as he tripped over a net launcher, sending a net to fly into the air.

As Clumsy sat up a loud screech was heard.

He looked up and saw a black mass fall into the forest. He was in so much shock that he didn't notice the dragonfly sneaking up behind him with a fiery mouth.

But before it could strike Willow slammed it in the head with staff.

With a hiss the dragonfly took off in the sky with the rest of them. Willow quickly turned her glare to a nervous Clumsy as crowd began to form around them.

"I thought I told you to smurf inside." She said sternly.

"I asked him to go to my house to get some smurfroot." Granny stepped in. Willow looked back and forth between the two before sighing.

"Granny, take Clumsy back to your house until his is repaired. I have a village to clean up."

Granny nodded before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him to her house...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How many times do I have to tell you! If you want the girls to respect you just stay out of their way when there's an attack." Granny ranted as grabbed a sleeping bag out if her closet. 

Clumsy just sat on her bed, staring at the ground.

"I just want to do something right." He muttered.

Granny paused and sighed.

"Why don't you smurf along, I'll see you tonight." She smiled softly and headed for the door...


	3. A Close Encounter

That afternoon the Smurfs gathered in the food hall. They were gathered around Willow in the centre of the hall.

"The village can't survive another dragonfly attack like lat night, not with winter so close." She explained to her Smurfs.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Someone from the crowd asked.

"We find the nest. If we drive them out then they'll leave which means no more attacks." She explained and pulled out a map of the Forbidden Forest.

"But people have gone looking for that place has never smurfed back." Someone cried.

"I know you're scared but at this rate we'll never survive winter, so who's with me?" Willow asked, but no one spoke up.

"Ok. Those who stay can look after Clumsy."

Everysmurfs' hands flew up.

"That's better." Willow smiled. As the crowd dispersed Willow walked up to Granny.

"I'll pack my walking stick." Granny huffed as she drank her smurfberry juice.

"No, Granny, I want you to stay with some of the others in case there's another attack and more casualties." Willow said.

"Oh great, and while I'm doing that Clumsy can have all the free time he wants. No smurf bothering him, lots of free time to himself, what could possibly smurf wrong?" Granny grinned.

"What am I going to do with him Granny?" Willow sighed.

"Put him in training with the others."

"I'm serious, Granny."

"So am I."

"He'd be smurfed before you let the first dragonfly out of it's cage." Willow argued.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't! The fact is Willow, you won't always be around to protect him. He's going to smurf out there again. He's probably out there now."...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clumsy groaned as he trudged through the thick forest.

He had been out there all day and still no sign of the dragonfly he accidentally shot out of the sky last night. He still couldn't believe that he had lost a whole dragonfly.

Suddenly he tripped over a tree root and went rolling down a hill.

When he opened his eyes he was on his back. His eyes widened when he saw nearly half a tree blown off. He looked to his left and saw the ground looking like a battlefield. He followed the trail of destruction up a hill.

When he got to the top of the hill he quickly ducked down.

Slowly he looked over the top of the hill and gulped. Laying at the bottom of the hill was a black creature tangled in a net.

It was the dragonfly.

A Nightmare.

He quickly pulled out the small blade Willow gave him should he ever need to defend himself and carefully walked down the hill. But his foot slipped on the grass and roles down the hill to a large boulder next to the dragonfly.

He stood up, gripped the dagger and took a deep breath.

He slowly walked around the boulder and got a good look at the dragonfly.

It had black, armour-like skin with a glowing lapis blue stripe starting inbetween it's antennae, down the back and ends at the tip of it's tail. It's transparent wings were royal blue that seemed to have glitter in them; they remained Clumsy of the starry night sky.

The dragonfly seemed unconscious.

Clumsy smiled as he lowered the dagger.

"This is gonna change everything. Ha! Not tough enough to handle myself, Willow? Smurf that to this thing." He grinned and put his hand on the dragonfly's side.

Suddenly it shifted and hissed.

Clumsy cried out in fear and jumped away and held up his dagger again as it rolled onto its side, showing it's stomach. Cautiously he stepped towards the beast and looked at it's head. He saw it's bright, sapphire blue eyes staring up at him with it's pupils narrow black slits.

Clumsy felt his heart skip a beat as those stunning eyes burned into his soul.

The dragonfly looked from him to the dagger in his hand befire lowering it's head and closing it's eyes in defeat. Clumsy nervously looked the dragonfly over and then at the dagger in his hands as horrifying realisation sank in.

"I did this." He whispered as he took a step back and lowered the dagger.

He turned to leave but looked back at the dragonfly. He couldn't just leave it there, somesmurf would find it eventually. Quickly, he knelt down by it's stomach and started to cut through the net's ropes.

The Nightmare's eyes snapped open when it realised what was going on as the net around it loosened.

Before Clumsy had time blink the dragonfly shot up from the ground and pinned him against the boulder. It opened it's mouth, ready to fire.

Clumsy held his breath and closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the fiery death to come.

Suddenly the dragonfly screeched loudly into his face and flew off into the forest. Clumsy opened his eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief as he placed a hand over his racing heart. He stood up to leave but barely took two steps before collapsing in shock...


	4. Training

By the time he got back to Granny's house it was nightfall. He walked in and saw Willow waiting for him instead of Granny.

"Clumsy." She said in her firm yet gentle tone.

"Uh, hey there Willow. I need to speak with you." He sighed.

"I need to talk with you as well." She replied as they took a seat.

"You go first."

"Alright. You get your wish, you start combat training first thing tomorrow morning." Willow said with a forced smile.

"Oh smurf, I should have gone first!" He exclaimed. "Willow, I can't fight dragonflies. You and the others are right, I'm a terrible warrior and should keep out of the way."

"Wait, is that what you think? Clumsy, I'm just trying to protect you. Ever since we found you on the beach twenty years ago I've just wanted to keep you safe, but I see now that you need to learn how to defend yourself like the othersmurfs. I need to let you grow up." She sighed sadly.

Clumsy just looked at the ground as there was no point in arguing with her.

"So, will you at least try?" She pleaded...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Willow sighed as she and two dozen smurfs prepared for the journey. It was now morning and she was worried.

"Are you sure you don't want to me to smurf with you, Willow?" Stormy asked.

"Yes I am, you can train with the others and help protect the village in case there's another dragonfly attack." She explained. "And please keep an eye on Clumsy."

Stormy groaned but nodded in agreement...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welcome to training young smurfs." Granny chuckled as Stormy, Blossom, Lily and Harmony walked into the arena. The arena was a large stone pit with a chain net over the top to prevent the dragonflies from flying away.

Opposite from the entrance were four large doors that held captured dragonflies.

"This is going to be awesome!" Blossom said in her usual cheery tone.

"Yeah, no kidding." A miserable voice said from behind them. They turned around and saw Clumsy Smurf following into the arena. "Pain; love it."

Suddenly Granny slammed her walking stick on the ground.

"Today you will learn to smurf all types of Dragonflies such as: the indestructible Inferno, the monstrous Miasma, the horrifying Hotspot and the brutal Bottleneck. Let's get started." She smiled and grabbed the lever for the Bottleneck's cage.

"Whoa! Wait! Aren't you going to smurf us something first?!" Harmony panicked.

"I believe in smurfing on the job." She replied and released the Bottleneck. This dragonfly was light blue with purple stripes on it's tail.

It screeched loudly as it flew around the arena.

"Ok, now what is the first piece of equipment you'll need?" Granny asked.

"A doctor?" Clumsy gulped.

"Shield!" Stormy cried as she ran for the pile of shields nearby. Everyone followed her.

"Well done Stormy. If smurfed a choice between a shield or a sword go for the shield. Now, this Bottleneck has enough water in it for six blasts. It's last smurf standing."

As everysmurf grabbed a shield the purple stripes on the Bottleneck's started to glow. The dragonfly suddenly shot a blast of boiling hot water at them. The blast hit Lily and Blossom's shields, destroying them almost instantly.

Harmony went to strike the dragonfly down but she was slammed into the wall of the arena by it's powerful tail.

"So I guess it's just you and me?" Clumsy chuckled nervously to Stormy.

"Nope, just you." She said before running off. Before he could do anything however, there was a powerful blast of water that knocked it's shield out of his hands. The dragonfly the pinned him against the wall with it's mouth wide open, ready to fire.

Suddenly Granny threw a vail of purple liquid at the beast and it screamed in pain before flying back in it's cage.

"Well done young smurfs." Granny said as she locked the cage door. The girls were now panting from exhaustion.

"You survived your first day of training, just remember, a dragonfly will always go for the kill." She said, glaring at Clumsy.

Clumsy looked at his now destroyed shield and raised an eyebrow...


	5. Knowledge

"So why didn't you?" Clumsy mused as he knelt in the clearing he found the dragonfly in, staring at the shredded net.

If what Granny said was really true, that a dragonfly would always go for the kill, then why wasn't he dead? As he stood up to leave, something glittered out the corner of his eye. He walked over to the object, half covered in soil. Brushing it off, he realised it was a black shell-like scale. He lifted it up, when another scale shined in the sun a few metres off.

He walked over and grabbed it.

Scanning the area, he saw that there were more scales, leading off like a trail of breadcrumbs. Carefully, he followed the path picking up each piece along the way. It eventually led me to a clearing. Sunlight spilled threw the thick canopy of the beautiful green weeping willow trees. Clear water flowed into a pond, with a variety of fish swimming in the sparkling fresh water.

Erosion had left it all in what looked like a hollowed out bowl with 10 metre high walls of solid rock.

Clumsy was lucky that he found the ridged path near the bottom because even some of the girls would have trouble climbing up, and if they fell down, who knows what could happen. He then noticed a small pool of blood lay near his feet. He knelt down and studied the puddle, when a shadow suddenly passed over him, followed by an ear-wrenching scream.

He cried out in fear and quickly dove back into the safety and shelter of the covered path.

Looking up, he saw the dragonfly, desperately trying to climb up the cliff face. The dark creature was covered in cuts and bruises, slowly sliding back down to the ground. Just as he thought it was going to fall to its death, it stretched out it's beautiful wings and gilded back to the ground. He was amazed, even injured, the dragonfly was one of the most beautiful creatures he'd ever seen in the forest.

He wanted to get a better look.

Picking his way carefully and taking his time so that wouldn't trip over his own feet, he half climbed, half skid towards another large rock jutting out from the cliff. He quickly lay down against the rock so he wouldn't be so obvious and watched the creature. The dragonfly slithered towards a fallen log and climbed onto it. It seemed to be thinking, calculating.

It amazed Clumsy.

Using it's body in a spring like movement, it opened its long wings again and flew a few metres off the cold ground before nearly colliding with a thick cliff wall, turning too sharply to avoid the wall and as a result crashing back to the ground. Clumsy flinched at the thud. It tried to climb up once more, but appeared to give up, lying motionless on the soil.

Taking advantage of the once in a lifetime situation, Clumsy grabbed his notebook that Lily gave him and quickly drew a rough sketch of the dragonfly.

As he continued to draw the beautiful creature, he noticed that it's left wing was bent and creased while it's right wing was perfectly straight, unless it was tucking them to it's side. The dragonfly got up and winced, before limping over to the edge of the lake. It then dipped it's snout into the cool, dark water and drank slowly. He frowned. A creature so amazing should never be so helpless.

"Why not just smurf away?" He whispered to himself, loosening his grip on the pen.

The pen slipped from his grasp and before he could catch it fell to the ground. The dragonfly saw it and looked up, right at him. He quickly stood up and took a step back, afraid it was going to attack him again. But it just lay there, staring into his soul. Clumsy took a few more steps back before he ran off as fast as his legs could carry him...

* * *

After getting away from the Nightmare, Clumsy walked up to the great hall. As he walked in, he could already hear Granny giving everysmurf on of her theory lesson.

"All right, where did Stormy go wrong in the ring today?"

"I smurfed to my left when I should of smurfed to the right, that would of giving me the perfect opening. It was a stupid mistake." Stormy growled.

"No no, you were great!" Blossom smiled in her usual cherry way.

"Stormy's right." Granny corrected. "You need to be tough on yourselves. Where did Clumsy go wrong?" She asked as the only boy Smurf stumbled over to an empty table with a small plate of food, ignoring the comments.

"He's never where we should be." Stormy glared at him.

"Thank you for that answer, Stormy." Granny sighed as she walked over to a old massive book in the corner, picked it up and dropped on the table the others were sitting at. "You youngsters need to smurf and breathe all this stuff. The dragonfly guide. Everything we smurf about every dragonfly species we smurf of." She said.

While the others looked at the cover of the old book, the older Smurf looked out one of the windows of the hall as thunder clapped loudly overhead.

"No attacks tonight. Study up." She ordered before she walked off as Harmony gave her a horrified look.

"Wait, you want us to read?" She cried. "Why read words when you can just smurf the stuff the words tell you about?"

"I've read it seven times." Lily smiled. "There's this dragonfly that can mimic you, and there's this other one that-"

"Yeah, that sounds great, there was a chance I'd read it but not now." Harmony sighed before she and Blossom left for their huts. Lily sighed before she stood up and followed them out, leaving Stormy alon at the table.

Clumsy nervously walked over to her and gulped.

"S-So I guess we'll share?" He grinned.

"Smurfed it already." She said as she pushed the book to him and walked away.

"All mine then, OK, I'll smurf you tomorrow?" He called but she was already gone. He sighed and started flipping through the book.

"Dragonfly classifications: Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class. Tambour; this reclusive dragonfly inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools, when startled, the Tambour smurfs a concussive sound that can smurf a Smurf at close range, extremely dangerous, smurf on sight. Bois; this gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can smurf through full-grown trees, extremely dangerous, smurf on sight. Bottleneck; smurfs shots of scalding water at its victim, extremely dangerous. Couleur; even newly hatched Couleur's can smurf acid, smurf on sight. Miasmas. Snapifer. Foudre. Burns its victims. Buries its victims. Chokes its victims. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Smurf on sight. Smurf on sight. Smurf on sight." Clumsy groaned as he flipped through the hundreds of pages.

Until he found what he was looking for.

"Nightmare." He mumbled as he stared at the blank pages, save for a few words written down. "Speed unknown, size unknown; The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragonfly. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you." He gulped.

He quickly reached into his satchel and pulled out his notepad. Opening to the page of he most recent sketch, I placed the book down in the large space under the title Nightmare. The drawing sat slightly crooked on the near blank page like the pieces of a puzzle, begging to be solved...


	6. A Whisper

A group of large boats slowly cut through the dark, misty waters. While most of them dragged behind the largest one, a fine white ship led the group, like a pack of wolves going in for the kill. A massive cloud of fog confronted the boats like solid wall, and the ships came to a stop a few metres away. Willow stood at a table on deck, closely studying a map of the Forbidden Forest.

"I can almost smurf them, they're close." She frowned as she turned towards the fog wall, only shown as a swirling grey mass on the map. "Steady!" She called to the girls.

The boats moved along the wall for a few more minutes, before Willow gave the command. The girls started screaming orders around the grand boat.

"Hard to port! For the Devil's Gate."

"Hard to port!"

All the ships turned and slowly moved into the thick of the fog. For a split second nothing could be seen or heard. A bright flash lit the sky and a dragon's shape could be seen in the fog...

* * *

The next morning was yet another day of Granny's great teachings. The arena had been turned into a maze, full of wooden walls that reached high over their heads. If that wasn't enough, a fully armed Snapifer was hiding somewhere within the walls, lurking around corners ready to attack any poor unfortunate victim. Clumsy stopped in what seemingly safe place and looked up towards Granny, who was watching them in one of the boxes just above the arena.

"Uh Granny? I smurfed the book had nothing on Nightmares, is there another book?" He asked hopefully before crying out as a long, thorny vine-like tongue missed him by inches.

"Focus Clumsy! You're not even smurfing!" She shouted.

The Snapifer pulled back one of it's three tongues into its mouth as it walked around the corner and looked at him. It was leafy green with yellow stripes around its tail and legs. Clumsy ran off with the dragon the spirit hot on my trail.

"Today it's all about attack!" Granny shouted. Clumsy turned around and when he couldn't see the creature, he stopped to breathe. A shriek rang out overhead and he looked straight up. The Snapifer was crouched on the maze wall in a cat-like position. He had to resist screaming before running off. The walls creaked with the extra weight of the creature running on the tops.

"A Snapifer is swift and light on their feet, your job is to be swifter, lighter and smarter!"

The walls stopped groaning as the Snapifer paused. It seemed to look around for a minute, before seeing Blossom and running towards her. The girl screamed before sprinting back into the maze. Losing its prey, the creature shot one of its tongues towards the first moving object it saw. Lily yelped as the whip-like tongue just missed her head.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" She cried, but Granny just ignored the comment.

"Smurf for its blind spot! Every dragonfly has one, find it, hide in it and strike!" She said. Clumsy ran through a four way intersection in the maze, when he suddenly tripped and almost colliding with the dragonfly. But just as it was about to turn around to face him, Harmony ran right in front of it, so it went after her instead. Once it was out of sight, Clumsy stood up and looked up at Granny.

"So how do you smurf up on a Nightmare?" He asked.

"No one's ever met one and smurfed to tell the tale; now, GET IN THERE!" She exclaimed.

"I know, I know, but hypothetically-"

"Clumsy!"

He looked to his left. Lily and Stormy were kneeling down near the corner, the latter glaring at him. Smurfstorm looked around the corner, quickly ducking back after almost making eye contact with the dragonfly. It was looking around, yet didn't see both girls army roll to behind the next corner. Clumsy went to move in a similar fashion, but the weight of the shield stopped him mid-roll, catching the Snapifer's attention.

It snarled at him and he ran off screaming.

The creature jumped back up onto the walls, leaping two walls and landing near Stormy and Lily. Just as Stormy was about to strike, Lily shot an arrow at the creature. But the arrows did nothing but annoy the dragonfly. It chased after them, enjoying the hunt and using all three tongues to attack at random, resulting in the walls to fall over like dominos.

Stormy managed to get a boost by jumping off a wall that was about to fall.

One problem though, Clumsy was in her landing area. The girl completely flattened him, both of their shields flying everywhere. The others looked, laughing at them. Stormy quickly jumped off him and looked for something to attack the Snapifer. She looked up and saw the dragonfly charging towards straight towards them. In a panic, Stomy grabbed Clumsy's shield and slammed it into the beast's face.

The creature just about fell over but regained its footing before running off.

Granny looked over at all her students and saw the arena in ruins.

"Nice thinking, Stormy." She smiled as Stormy stood there, panting. She angrily turned to face him. She threw what was left of the now broken shield at his feet.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you? Figure out which side you're on!" She snarled before she walked off with the others, leaving Clumsy there, surround the remains of his shield and the walls. As he stood up and dusted himself off, he saw Granny pushing the Snapifer into its cage and locking him. The old Smurf gave him a look before walking away as well...

* * *

The sun was shining through the willow trees, reflecting off the sparkling fresh water lake. Clumsy walked down the path, almost invisible behind a new shield. Coming towards the bottom, he stopped and carefully looked over the shield. Not seeing any signs of movement, he threw a boomberry into the clearing. Boomberries were like Smurfberries for dragonflies.

The only difference was that they were bright red and they glowed in the night.

After nothing moved and after a few minutes, he went to walk into the silent clearing. At least, he tried to. The large shield on his skinny blue arm got caught between the two massive boulders that make up the pathway. After trying to pull it out, he gave up and abandon the oversized shield, ducking under it and walking into the clearing armed only with his small dagger.

At least the Nightmare couldn't get out using this path now.

He slowly picked up the boomberry and looked around fearfully. Even though there was a chance the beast had left, but he knew from experience that one could never be too safe. He turned around and walked into the more open space, not seeing a bruised dragonfly hiding on one of the taller rocks just out of his line of vision. It watched him in silence, studying him, as if trying to decide whether he was a threat or not.

Clumsy felt a shiver down his spine and slowly turned back around as it stood up.

He jumped out of his skin and it watched him some more, before hesitantly climbing down. They simply stared at each other before Clumsy swallowed the lump in his throat and carefully held out the boomberry. The Nightmare studied me before taking a small step forward. It was almost within an arm's length before it suddenly jumped back, glaring at him and emitting a low, threatening growl from its throat.

He also jumped back in fear and pulled him arm back, automatically reaching for the small dagger hoisted in his belt.

The growling increased at the sight of the dagger and everything clicked. The Nightmare, most powerful and dangerous of all the dragonflies, was afraid the weak Smurf cowering in front of it was going to attack. He went to the dagger, his fingers brushing over the handle when the beast's mouth started glowing, ready to fire. He took a few steps back, terrified, as the dragonfly glared at him.

Before the Nightmare could attack, he quickly grabbed the dagger and dropped it.

The beast glared at him still before motioning with its head. He quickly picked up the blade and threw it into the pond. It looked at him for a second, when all its features softened. It just looked at him now, confused and still cautious. He took a deep breath, relax a bit himself, holding out the berry again and, like last time, the dragonfly slowly walked forward.

It opened its mouth hesitantly, ready to jump if he tried anything.

The beast suddenly ripped the berry from his hand and swallowed it in go gulp. Clumsy anxiously watched as the creature happily licked it's lips, seeming to forget the Smurf even existed. It turned back to hi, and walked closer, scanning for any more food. He tried to run off but tripped, crawling away until his back came up against a rock and he was cornered.

"No, no no no." He whimpered in terror as the Nightmare kept coming closer. He tried getting further away from the creature, but he didn't have the strength to move the boulder.

"I don't have any more." He whispered. The beast watched him, and right as Clumsy thought he was gonna die, the creature backed away. He didn't dare move as the animal started gagging violently. It suddenly coughed up the mushy remains of the boomberry right on the yellow cloth of Clumsy's lap before walking off and standing nearby with an almost thoughtful look.

Clumsy had to cover his mouth with his hand to stop from throwing up himself.

The dragonfly looked at the Smurf, then to the mush in his lap, and back to Clumsy. He followed its beautiful eyes and saw what it was trying to say. He almost threw up again, but didn't want to anger the animal in case it attacked. Begrudgingly, he slowly scooped the mush as best he could before stuffing it into his mouth. Despite all instincts telling him to spit it out, he swallowed it and gagged.

He looked back at the Nightmare and gave it a weak smile.

The creature seemed to study the expression carefully, and slowly its lip curved up and it smiled back. Clumsy froze before he slowly stood up and hesitantly walked towards the dragonfly. He was almost within touching distance of it when its smile fell and a growled filled the clearing. Seconds later it was flying over the pond. The creature seemed to be flying on a funny angle, and he cringed as it came to a crash landing on the other side of the lake.

The Nightmare wobbled and for a second he thought she was gonna pass out.

She stopped herself from completely falling over, but still fell to a kneeling position. Clumsy could hear her breathing heavily from where he was standing. She tried to stop herself from passing out in exhaustion. She knew she shouldn't have flown off like that, but Clumsy got too close. She couldn't believe she almost let him get too close. Her chest ached from the strain of flying.

She blew a few gentle blue flames onto the grass, scorching it before she curled up into a protective ball, ready to rest.

She almost closed her eyes when a butterfly perched on a branch caught her eye. It flew off and she turned to go to sleep when she saw Clumsy, sitting a few feet off with a nervous smile. He waved at her, and she turned around to face the cliff walls. Even though she wasn't watching, she could hear him moving ever so closer. She waited until he was almost hovering over her wing when she whipped around and fixed him with a glare.

He quickly turned and stumbled off.

But the Nightmare still stood up and walked off in the other direction. She climbed up into the tree and curled up inside the split trunk...

* * *

She didn't know how long she had slept, but when she woke up the sun was beginning to set over the forest. Looking around, she saw Clumsy sitting across the lake. He had a stick in his hand, drawing random scribbles into the dirt. Clumsy felt a shiver down his back and inhaled sharply, aware of the creature's presence. It hadn't even made a sound; almost like it was a whisper.

He continued his drawings and she watched him as he just drew a few lines in the cool soil.

She then walked over to the tree and pulled off a branch. She then dragged the branch around, making a series of patterns in the dirt. Clumsy stopped what he was doing and watched her, a confused look on his blue face. Soon the Nightmare was stood outside the maze in the dirt, satisfied with her work. She watched as the young Smurf looked around; trying to figure out what she had drawn.

When he tried to walk out, he stepped on the line and the dragonfly growled before making a move to charge at him.

He jumped back in fear and she stopped. After a second of awkward silence he tried stepping on the line again. She growled threateningly again but stopped as soon as he moved his foot again. He tested his theory once more before stepping over the line. She didn't move and he smiled. He turned around again and again and increased his speed as the creature watched in amusement.

After a minute or two he finally got out of the maze, but he was so caught up in the moment he didn't realise she was right behind him.

She sniffed at his yellow hat and he jumped, turning around to face her. He looked at her fearfully before he took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand. She started to growl and Clumsy clutched his eyes shut in terror, but didn't stop. The dragonfly's glare softened as she examined the hand. It seemed all he wanted to do was touch, not harm her.

Hesitantly, she placed her beak in his and he froze.

They stood like that for a second, before he opened his eyes and looked at her in shock and wonder. She slowly pulled her beak away and snorted, her eyes returning to slits before she took off. Clumsy watched her go before looking back at his hand, a faint smile growing on his face...


	7. First Try

That night, Granny and the gang sat around a campfire, roasting their dinner. All eyes were on Granny, who was telling a story most had heard millions of times.

"And then, out of nowhere, the biggest dragonfly you've ever smurfed! Its hide was littered with the weapons of fallen warriors, his face scarred, with one eye; the warrior smurfed her sword and woosh! With one swipe her sword shattered and then chomp! Her head was smurf off! Down the monster's throat it went, the Red One has never been seen since, and is roaming the wilds waiting it's chance of revenge!"

"I'll smurf the head of every dragonfly I fight!" Harmony smirked, but Granny shook her head.

"No girls, it's the wings you need to smurf for, if they can't fly then they can't get away, the dragonfly would be like sitting ducks, and a downed dragonfly is a smurfed dragonfly." She explained and Clumsy's eyes widened in horrifying realisation.

"All right, I'm off to bed." The old Smurf sighed as she stood up. "You should be, too; tomorrow we smurf to the big boys, slowly but surely making our way up to the Inferno, but who'll win the honor of smurfing it?"

"It's gonna be me, it's my destiny, see?" Blossom exclaimed and showed them her shoulder.

"Willow let you get a tattoo?" Lily gasped.

"It's not a tattoo, it's a birthmark." She pouted.

"OK, I've known you since we were smurfed and that was never there before." Harmony laughed.

"Yes, it was!" She argued. "You've just never smurfs me from the left side."

Clumsy silently ran off while they were still, but Stormy saw him. She almost looked like she was going to follow him, but Blossom called her back to the others. Clumsy continued running into the darkness, knowing this was going to be a long night...

* * *

Clumsy ran into the blacksmith store at the far end of the village. A few years ago, a few of the girls had been kind enough to take the time to teach him how to operate the equipment and craft many things. He'd even helped Lily make a brace for a bird's broken wing. Firing up the furnace and opening another book on dragonflies he'd found in the hall, he got to work.

He knew he wasn't as skilled as he should be, but he thought he'd do well enough.

He found a piece of metal he thought would be perfect for what he wanted to make. It was very thin and light but it was incredible strong. He began to carefully forge it into the shape he wanted. He worked well into the night and it was a miracle no smurf came by. As the early morning sun began to rose, Clumsy wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled at his handy work...

* * *

As soon as he had packed his project up, he ran straight for the cove. After sneaking in through the path with his project under one blue arm and the other holding a large sack. He looked around and grew worried when he couldn't see the Nightmare anymore.

"Wisp?" He called into the silence. He didn't know when he'd named her or why, but he just felt that name fit her. There was a low rumbling sound and he saw her half napping on a large boulder. She rolled off and watched him, still cautious.

"Hey, Wisp, I brought breakfast." He smiled as he dropped the sack and all sorts of nuts, berries and other assortments spilled out. Wisp perked up as she crawled over to the delicious pile of food

"I hope you're hungry." He grinned as she sniffed. "We've got some boomberries, smurfberries and a whole thorn root." He smiled as he helb up the greyish/brown root. The second Wisp saw the root, her mouth lit up, her pupils slit and a fearful yowl bubbled in her throat.

"No, it's OK!" He cried as he threw the root away, the second it was gone, she calmed down and went back to sniffing at the food. "Yeah, I don't really smurf thorn root much, either." He sighed. That wasn't a lie. No one in Smurfy Grove liked thorn root because of its sour and bitter taste. The only reason Willow had them collect any at all was because it was the best ingredient for most of her medicines and potions

"That's it." He muttered as Wisp started chomping down on the food. "Just smurf with the good stuff and don't you smurf me." He grinned as he crept around to her damage wing. As she continued to eat, Clumsy carefully climbed onto her back placed the crumpled wing into the thin metal brace he had made. It was still noticeably creased but at least it was not bent out of shape.

As he smiled with pride, he failed to notice Wisp freeze as she flexed her damage wing and her eyes widened in shock.

"That's not too bad, hope it works."

The second those words left his mouth, Wisp suddenly took off into the sky. Clumsy cried out as he gripped Wips' neck tightly. She was only able to fly a few feet before she started to fall. Clumsy looked at the wing and saw it was spazzing out in all directions while the other one stayed in one place. He screamed when he saw they were heading straight for a wall.

Out of pure instinct, he grabbed her antennas and pulled.

Wisp let out a screeched as she flew up, missing the stone wall by mere inches. When Clumsy opened his eyes he laughed as they flew around the cove, though they weren't flying as well as they should be. Getting annoyed with the Smurf sat on her, so when they were right over the pond, Wisp did a loopty-loop. The grip on her antennas loosened as Clumsy fell into the pond.

The second he was off, Wisp growled in frustration as she found it more harder to stay in the air.

She fell into the shallow end of the pond. When Clumsy surfaced he saw her crawl out onto the grass, her wings soaked and limp. She sent him a snarl before climbing into her tree to sulk...

* * *

"Today is about teamwork!" Granny shouted as she unlocked the massive cage, and before they could even see it fully open the arena was filled with an eerie green gas. Remembering something they all learned when they were smurflings, they gathered into groups. Lily went back to back with Clumsy while Harmony, Stormy and Blossom wandered off into the gas cloud.

"Now, a wet dragonfly head can't light its fire." Granny said. "The Miasmas is extra tricky, one end shots gas and the other lights it, your job is to know which is which."

Somewhere else in the thick gas, Stormy and Blossom were back to back, armed with their buckets. Just then something moved nearby and Blossom jumped and threw her bucket of water at a shadow in the fog. The fog thinned and Blossom blushed when she realised who it was.

"Hey! It's me!" Harmony growled, her clothes now soaked.

"I'm sorry! I thought you were the dragonfly!" She cried. Suddenly, a large sea green tail came out of nowhere and knocked the two Smurfs over. Seconds later, they both came running out of the green gas, their clothes torn. As they ran past them, Clumsy gulped as he looked into the unknown. A large shadow emerged from the fog, and he screamed while running backwards.

Yellowish green eyes glowed above them, and Lily threw the water in her bucket at the closest thing to her, the tail.

But her heart froze when she saw the end of the tail started to glow as gas started to form from it as it's mouth started to spark. Its large head came down to finish Lily off but Stormy jumped. The older girl managed to commando roll out of the way as the creature's jaws only just missed them. It was just Clumsy and the monster. Granny looked over to the others, and after seeing them safe turned back to him.

"Now Clumsy!" She cried.

Clumsy was about to throw his bucket when the Miasmas charged him. He went to dodge, but tripped up, causing the water to spill everywhere. The beast was about to strike when the thorn root slipped out of his hat and the Miasmas tensed. Clumsy's eyes widened as he remembered how Wisp had reacted to the root. He put the root back into his hat and took a step towards the dragonfly.

The Miasmas hissed as it backed away and Clumsy smiled in relief.

Everyone watched in awe as he herded the dragonfly back into the cage.

"Back, back, back!" He exclaimed loudly. Another step forward, another step back. The Miasmas glared at him, all it could do was back away from the small Smurf. The others slowly walked forward as well, looks of shock on their faces. Stormy actually looked distressed; she'd not been able to do such a feat. The dragonfly was finally backed into the corner of the cage.

"Now, don't you make me smurf you again! Yes, that's right. Back into your cage. Now think about what you've done." He grinned as he threw the thorn root into the cage and locked it.

He glanced back to see the others. They were all frozen is amazement, Harmony actually dropping her shield. Clumsy was slightly creeped out by their expressions, they were looking at him as if he was the dragonfly.

"Okay... so are we done?" He gulped but no-one moved, it was hard to tell if they were even breathing. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow!" He grinned as he ran out if the arena, and could feel the daggers being glared into his back by a certain warrior...


	8. Late

"Wisp!" Clumsy cried as he ran into the valley, looking for the dragonfly.

Suddenly he tripped up and fell into the cove. As he picked himself up, low grumble sounded and Clumsy grinned and turned around. Sure enough, there she was, perched on that same boulder before jumping down and landing next to the Smurf. After feeding her some more boomberries, he inspected the brace he had made for her wing. From what he could tell, it was holding up nicely, but there was only one way to know for sure

He needed to get her to fly.

He took a deep, possible last breath, before he swung onto the creature's back. He froze as the dragonfly shifted under him and he grabbed onto the antennas like before. He held onto the rein-like antennas tighter, and lightly kicked the beast with his heel, and suddenly they were charging towards the water. He screamed at the top of his lung, squeezing his eyes shut as Wisp plunged into the water.

But instead of being drenched like he expected, they just kept flying.

Slowly, he opened one eye, and then the next he saw they were flying just inches above the water, leaving a spray of water behind them. He gasped, looking down at the lake and seeing their reflections on the mirror flat surface. To be honest, it was the most exciting experience he'd ever had. He leaned closer to the water, but the shift of weight caused Wisp to tip.

Clumsy felt himself slip and scream as he fell into the pond, dragging Wisp down with him.

They both hit the water, and Clumsy kicked himself back to the surface. Keeping his head above the water, he saw Wisp come up next to him. Clumsy grabbed onto her neck and they both swam over to shore. They were both soaked through and through. Their eyes locked, and suddenly Clumsy was laughing his heads off. Wisp suddenly started making some happily chirping noises, almost as if she was laughing too.

They kept laughing until Clumsy's eyes were watery and his stomach hurt that much it wasn't funny.

"We still have a long way to smurf." He sighed, but at least her fly was better, but only when he was guiding her. He looked to the sky, and noticed time had flown by again.

"I should be smurfing if I want to be home before it's too dark." He smiled as he stood up and Wisp looked over at with what he believed to be an understanding look. He gently rubbed her beak and leaving the cove...

* * *

Clumsy panted as ran into the arena, thankfully not tripping up once. The others were finishing off the lesson, Granny forcing the angry dragonfly back into a cage. Harmony turned around and saw the boy Smurf enter.

"Well, look who decided to wake up." She laughed as Granny turn around, glaring at him.

"You're late Clumsy." She scowled and he cringed under the harsh look.

"Sorry, I overslept!" He cried as everyone groaned, and Granny just sighed.

"You're lucky Stormy managed to defeat the Bottleneck by herself; class dismissed." She said and everyone started to walk off, but Lily stayed with the klutz Smurf.

"So did I smurf anything important?" He asked and she gave him the 'what am I going to smurf with you' look.

"Not really, just search and capture." She shrugged as they walked out of the building, everyone else long gone. The village was like a ghost town, with everyone gone looking for the lair.

"What were you doing up so late?" She suddenly asked and he froze, not expecting the question, and not really having a good excuse.

"It's an ….ongoing project thingy….I'm smurfing on." He stuttered, but Lily didn't look at all convinced, but she just shrugged.

"Just…don't do anything to dangerous okay?" She asked and he nodded.

"I won't." He promised and she smiled. Clumsy looked at the sky, and could tell he was already late.

"It was nice smurfing to you Lily!" He called as he ran off.

"Clumsy, wait!" She shouted but he didn't stop running...

* * *

Clumsy was so late that he was sure that Wisp was fast asleep by now. After loitering around the entrance of the cove he decided he'd at least check to see if she was safely asleep. As he carefully climbed down into the cove, he froze when he saw Wisp sat there, staring at him with her stunning blue eyes. She had heard him coming a mile away and had sat there waiting for him.

"I know I'm late and I'm sorry." He smiled sheepishly as he emptied to bag of berries for her.

The dragonfly huffed and flicked her tail in annoyance before tucking into her dinner. As she ate, Clumsy carefully climbed onto her back and again she didn't seem to care. He still didn't have a proper way to hold onto the creature so he knew he'd have to hang on tight. As she finished up, he cracked the rein-like antennas and the dragonfly spread its wings.

With a single flap, they were off the ground.

"Wait! Slow down!" Clumsy cried as they flew straight up, the poor Smurf holding onto Wisp so tight he was surprised she didn't suffocate.

As the wind blew in his face, he looked around at the nightly forest. Before he could do anything else, however, Clumsy was suddenly blown off the dragonfly's back and into the open air. Without Clumsy to help guide her in the air, Wisp also fell to the ground with him. By some strange miracle, they managed to land on the shallow muddy part of the bank.

Clumsy sat up and looked over at Wisp.

The beast was laying still as a statue in the mud, and Clumsy was afraid she'd injured herself but then she pushed herself up, and shook all the mub off her body. Wisp looked over at the Smurf, and started that chirping laugh again. There was mud all over his face except where he'd wiped it off his eyes. She kept laughing and Clumsy just groaned as he wiped the mud off his face.

He knew they were going to need to make some improvements if they didn't want to keep falling out of the sky.

After wipe off as much mud as he could and making sure the brace was still intact, Clumsy decided it would probably be best to leave now.

"Well...smurf you tomorrow Wisp." He smiled before stumbling out of the cove...


	9. Red Danger

Clumsy Smurf yawned as he walked into his newly re-built house and looked at the clock on the wall. Since he'd left Wisp slightly earlier than usual, he had a few hours to himself, but he didn't know what to do with that time. He sighed; first he would need to get out of those clothes, the once soft yellow cloth was now hidden under layer upon layer of mud.

After getting changed and having a quick shower, he sat down on the soft couch, thinking of what to do next.

His brain and bruises acted as one and came up with a brilliant idea. He really need to figure out a way to stop falling off Wisp's back. A light bulb turned on over his head and he ran to the workshop. First, he needed to figure out a way to keep from falling off Wisp's back, and he feared that one of them could be very hurt if it continues.

"What can I use?" Clumsy mumbled to himself as he looked around for something to use.

"What do you want to use, Clumsy?" A voice suddenly asked and Clumsy nearly jumped out of his own skin, turning to see the old Smurf right behind him.

"Granny, please don't smurf up on me like that!" He exclaimed as the silver haired Smurf rolled her eyes.

"Just what exactly are you smurfing up so late, and here of all places?" She asked and Clumsy tensed, before mentally cursing. He really needed to start thinking of excuses before people ask him the question.

"Um...well with winter on the way and...I thought it would be ...smurfy to make sure I smurf something warm but safe." He was lying through his teeth, but Granny didn't seem to notice.

"Yes...wouldn't want a repeat of last year." She grinned.

"You don't have to smurf that up every five seconds!"

"Yes but I still can't believe you smurfed up and smurfed an entire hut into the lake!" She laughed and Clumsy face palmed. The most embarrassing moment of his life.

"You should be smurfing home Clumsy, it may be a later class, but you'll be smurfing until the hours of the afternoon smurfing up this late at night." She said and Clumsy raised his eyebrows.

"Late class?"

"Yes, as in a class we smurf in the afternoon instead of the morning." She explained and he grinned; the later start meant he would probably get to see Wisp earlier.

"That's great!"

"Yes, maybe you'll be on time for once. Now buzz off!" She glared and he ran out of the workshop to his house. Too lazy to change into his pyjamas', he collapsed on the bed before crawling under the blankets, welcoming the warmth they supplied...

* * *

The next morning, the dragonfly took off, and Clumsy held his breath, praying not to fall off. For the first time in history, they actually managed to fly out of the cove without falling. Clumsy sat on her back, controlling the dragonfly, and deep down he was loving every second of it. He looked down over the land below them, and marveled at the beauty.

He decided to try and steer the creature.

He pulled on the antennas. The dragonfly's wing closed in closer to her body, and before he could scream, they were diving down to the ground. Clumsy held onto Wisp, not realising they were about to crash. His eyes blurred with the wind created by the speed they were going at, and he felt the air being drawn from his chest. They crashed into a field, Clumsy being thrown away from Wisp in the impact.

Clumsy quickly sat up and realised they had landed in a field of soft red flowers the size of daisies.

He smiled and inhaled, enjoying the smell when he heard Wisp snarling somewhere in the field. He followed the sound of the dragonfly and found the dark creature a few metres off. The look on her face was almost that of a drunk, when suddenly she fell backwards.

"Wisp!" He cried as he ran over to her and saw the steady rise and fall of her chest telling him she was still breathing.

Looking more closely, Clumsy started laughing. The great Nightmare was sleeping like a baby Smurf. He looked at the red plants surrounding them and picked one. Wisp murmured something in her sleep and he groaned, realising his newest problem. He sighed and, grabbing Wisp's tail, started dragging her towards what he hoped was the end of the field.

After dragging Wisp for about 10 minutes, he noticed the flowers were beginning to lessen in numbers.

Wisp started to stir and he dropped her large tail, standing a little away from the creature. Slowly she lifted herself up and looked over at him, before rubbing her chest like she'd just woken up from eating some bad berries. Clumsy felt a small smile grace his lips. He had to remember that the way he pulls on her antennas determined which way they flew.

He looked over at Wisp and saw that she was just about ready to fall asleep again.

He sighed before gently placing his hands on her sides and began leading the drowsy Dragonfly back to the cove...

* * *

Running over to the arena, Clumsy saw the others waiting outside and sighed relief. At least he had made it this time, even through he only had a few seconds to spare. Blossom saw him and walked over with her usual, cheery smile.

"You smurf like you just smurfed a marathon." She giggled.

"My legs aren't smurfed for running." He panted as Blossom laughed and Granny showed up to unlock the arena.

Before most of them had walked in, Bottleneck had been released from its cage and was already having fun trying to kill them. Harmony was already hobbling outside and Lily followed her sister. Stormy had just got herself thrown across the arena by one of its water blasts. The Bottleneck looked right at Clumsy and charged. He closed his eyes and braced for impacted, holding out my hand and hiding the flower petal in his fist.

The creature almost attacked but stopped right in front of him.

After a tense moment of silence, Clumsy opened his eyes as the Bottleneck fell over in a deep sleep. He slowly side stepped round the creature, trying to ignore the growing crowds above.

"Class dismissed!" Granny exclaimed, still staring at him in shock. "Excellent work, Clumsy!"

They all left the large stadium, but unlike usual everyone was surrounding the klutzy Smurf.

"That was amazing!" Blossom squealed.

"I've never seen a Dragonfly do that!" Harmony added.

"Um... I smurfed my shield in the arena, you guys smurf on ahead; I'll catch up." Clumsy quickly said and turned around and almost ran into Stormy, before weaving around the warrior and running towards the large building they had just left to try and make his story believable...


	10. Purring

"Hey Wisp!" Clumsy called before he tripped and fell down into the cove with a thud. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Wisp standing over him, sniffing at his hat. He laughed a little before lifting himself off and petting her snout.

"Sorry about that, class was short today, want to know why?" He grinned.

Wisp suddenly backed up and away from the Smurf and looked over at him wide eyed, growling at him, causing him to stop walking. It didn't take him long to realise why. He reached into his satchel and felt the red flowers brush against his blue fingers. He walked back up the path and threw the flowers away, making sure they didn't come back in the valley's direction before he walked back down the trail.

"Sorry." He blushed. "We should both be more careful, it could've smurfed out much worse." He frowned.

He remembered the stories Granny had told him from her youth. Sometimes she and her village would find Dragonflies asleep in fields, unable to wake up, and they had no idea why. But now Clumsy knew why they didn't wake up. They couldn't wake up because they were constantly surrounded by the flowers, so they just lay there sleeping, slowly dying.

Clumsy was just grateful that he had been there to save Wisp.

He looked over at the Dragonfly and saw that she was trying to rub the back of her neck and her shoulders against a rock. Scared that she was going to damage the brace, he went over and placed a hand on her back. He looked and saw flakes of dried pieces of her shell like skin that was starting to peel off and iche her body.

"Let me help you." He chuckled and started rubbing and gently scratching the black body. After a few moments, however, he began to notice some kind of oil on his hands that came from Wisp's body. Wisp let a faint growl eminiate from her throat and Clumsy guiltily continued rubbing the soothing oil in slow circles on her. The armor and muscles around her wings started to look brighter and healthier with the oil now in it.

Suddenly, he paused.

Something had rumbled, and it didn't sound like an earthquake. Clumsy walked silently to Wisp's head, bending down to put his ear next to the Nightmare's chest. His grin widened when he heard that she was purring. She didn't seem to notice though, to busy enjoying the massage he was giving her and leaning into his touch. He was so focused on her purring that he failed to noticed his left hand slowly scratching down under her chin.

Suddenly she when silent and still as she fell to ground.

Clumsy cried out, fearing the worst had happened. He quickly looked and sighed in relief when he saw that not only was she still breathing but she also appeared to have a smile on her beak. She was fast asleep and it didn't look like she'd wake up anytime soon.

"Um... Ok... smurf you tomorrow." Clumsy smiled as he walked out of the valley and started heading back to Smurfy Grove...

* * *

 

It was really starting to get dark by the time Clumsy got back into the village. The smile was still on his face as he thought about earlier with Wisp. It would be nice if they could just spend more days like that, but they both had more important things to worry about. For him, it was not dying training and for Wisp it was to not get captured. Clumsy shuddered at the thought, of her locked away in some cage, ready to be slaughtered.

He was almost at his house, when he walked past the arena and saw the door wide open.

Granny never forgot to lock the door, and even if she did she'd never leave it wide open. Clumsy's mind instantly jumped to to the worst scenario and, as quiet as physically possible, he crept through the door. The light were still off and it looked like no one was here, but he listened anyway. The sound of gentle footsteps came from the stairway to Granny's observation deck.

Clumsy held his breath and walked over to the stairs. He turned to face the culprit, and almost passed out relieved.

"Stormy, what are you smurfing here?" He whispered and the warrior nearly jumped out of her skin, looking over her shoulder at him, and mentally cursed herself for letting her guard down.

"Clumsy, don't smurf me like that!" She hissed.

"Gee Stormy, I'm sorry." He gulped. "What are you surfing here?"

Stormy sighed, before motioning upstairs.

"Come on." She said and started running upstairs, two at a time, and Clumsy had no choice but to follow her, albeit more slowly so he didn't trip, and make sure she didn't do anything crazy. By the time he caught up to the warrior she was already standing in Granny's booth, leaning as far as possible over the rail without falling over.

"Stormy, we really shouldn't be doing this." He whispered, worried Granny was going to show up any moment.

"Amazing aren't they?" She suddenly said.

He followed her gaze, and gasped. From the booth, they could see the whole arena, but that wasn't the best part. They could see inside the cages where the Dragonflies were kept. A Miasmas was pacing around its cage, a Snapifer and a Hotspot were snarling at each other through cages. But the cutest scene was a Bottleneck, curled up asleep in the corner.

The Inferno's cage was the only one they couldn't see due to the fact it was completely sealed up.

"It's amazing, everysmurf says they're so vicious but if you actually manage to smurf them when they don't feel scared, they're very smurfy." Clumsy muttered as he looked between the cages; the Dragonflies looked like they were all in prison cells. Stormy just laughed at him.

"Perhaps, but you have to smurf that these creatures have smurfed our village and our people for decades."

"I know, I just don't think it's smurfy that some of them are smurfed as a whole, it's like saying one man smurfs a crime so you need to smurf all humans in jail." He explained. "Do you still think all Dragonflies are bad?" He suddenly asked and Stormy frowned.

"Clumsy, if a man smurfs a crime, you don't smurf the whole human race in jail, you smurf that one individual to court, analyse the case and then reach a verdict and I've seen the evidence, and have already made my decision; guilty."

"Aren't there usually 12 on a jury?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"You weird." She laughed and gave him a friendly punch to the arm. Clumsy chuckled and he nervously rubbed his arm.

"Thanks." He smiled.

"No problem, we should smurf home before we get caught" She said as she looked at the clock on the wall.

"Yeah, more training tomorrow." He groaned. Stormy just rolled her eyes as they started walking downstairs. All of a sudden, they both froze and their blood ran cold.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Granny's voice echoed through the darkness.

Stormy knelt to the floor and lifted one of the boards. Hidden under the board was a small passage. Stormy jumped down and Clumsy quickly followed as the board dropped, leaving no trace they'd ever been there. They could still here Granny walking above them, and Stormy motioned silently for them to start walking. They walked through the pathway for roughly 10 or so minutes, before Stormy came to a halt.

She pushed up an opening in the ceiling, before climbing through the hole and then helping Clumsy out.

They looked around and Clumsy couldn't believe where they'd come up.

"The hall?" He mumbled.

"Yep, it's an old passage they smurfed when they first built the arena." She explained. "I better smurf it a night." She yawned before she walked out of the hall. After a few moments, Clumsy walked into his house before collapsing on the bed, too tired to get changed...


	11. Fight or Flight?

The next morning, Clumsy and the girls were standing out front the duel arena, waiting for training to start. As they waited for another few minutes, Granny stepped out the arena.

"Today is the final group duel, and the two Smurfs who smurf the best will go head to head in the final duel, whoever smurfs the best in that duel will get the honour of smurfing the Inferno." She told them.

Clumsy couldn't help but shudder at the mention of the dragonfly. The cage swung open and the Snapifer jumps out at them, roaring and hissing. Instantly, they all dove for the shields and weapons, only for the Dragonfly to whip Blossom, Lily and Harmony away and into the wall. Stormy managed to jump and avoid the tongue whereas Clumsy simply tripped up and the whip like tongue went over his head.

As he sat back up, he saw Stormy swinging a spear at the Dragonfly.

Lily, Harmony and Blossom were also attempting to get a few hits in but weren't as successful. Seizing the moment, Clumsy shot towards the beast, narrowly avoiding the swishing tail and snapping jaws as he reached under the creature's chin and started scratching. Seconds later, the Snapifer fell to the ground, unconscious. Everyone couldn't stop staring at him until Granny walked over to them.

"Congratulations, the teamwork you smurfed was excellent." She grinned. "Unfortunately, only two of you can smurf through to duel for the honour of smurfing the Inferno; Stormy and Clumsy, you two are the final two."

"What?!" Stormy and Clumsy were both in shock.

"Granny, this is insane!" Stormy cried as Clumsy stood in silent shock. "Surely one of the others would be a better choice."

"Stormy, the reason why I smurfed you is because you are a born warrior, and while the others have skills, Clumsy has shown a hidden talent with dealing with the beasts; my decision is final." The old Smurf said before walking towards the exit, but her students simply stood there.

"I don't believe it." Lily muttered.

"Neither do I, but understand this Clumsy." Stormy snarled as she glared at him with eyes as cold as ice. "I will win."...

* * *

Clumsy was grinning while he ran into the small bowl like valley. He saw Wisp sunbathing on her usual boulder. When the Dragonfly saw him and the bag of berries in his hand, she rolled off the boulder and landed perfectly on her feet. He smiled as he dropped the bag to the ground and the creature wet for it in an instant. As she happily munched away, Clumsy placed his latest gadget on the ground.

It was a special harness that was attached to a brown, leather saddle.

While he might enjoy flying with Wisp, it was hard for hi to stay on her and to be honest, her armoured body was starting to hurt his rump. After checking to make sure she was still eating, Clumsy carefully strapped the harness around her chest and attached it to the base of the brace. He waited until she had finished eating before climbing on her for a flight.

It was then that she took notice of the saddle and it was making her anxious.

"Just relax, it won't smurf you." Clumsy soothed as he gently rubbed the side of her long neck. After she had calmed down a little bit, he cracked the antennas and she shot into the cloudy blue sky. Now with the saddle helping, Clumsy found it was much easy to stay on the creature and to steer her and it worked with the brace too, helping her to fly more stably.

As Clumsy was focused on the saddle and the brase, Wisp started to fly faster, heading towards a nearby cliff with hawk like accuracy.

Clumsy held back a scream while holding on for dear life. The cliff got closer, and they went over. Clumsy was struggling not to fall forward as they flew vertically down. Waves broke over vicious pointed rocks that looked more like the black razor sharp teeth of a hungry dog. The water was a murky dark blue with white foam, and Clumsy honestly thought he was going to die. He held onto Wisp tighter, and at the last possible second the dragonfly pulled up.

Clumsy was hit by a wall of sea spray as the waves came up, lightly soaking his clothes.

His heart was racing, the air had all but left his lungs, he was soaked through, but at least he was alive. As he took deep, calming breaths, he could almost feel Wisp's smirk as they rose back into the blue sky. They flew straight at an even pace and the Smurf looked around and tried to enjoy the scenery. Clouds were scattered everywhere and he grinned as they flew through the white fluff.

Massive rock formations stood up from the water near the cliffs, and Clumsy panicked when he saw they were heading right towards them.

His grip on her antennas tightened slightly and he pulled to the left. Her wings closed tighter to her black body as they dived like a hawk under a naturally made stone bridge. He looked up and saw a group of ladybugs flying overhead. He was really starting to get the hand of this. He gently tugged on the antennas, but forgot to shift is weight as Wisp tried to turn.

They ended up brushing against a rock pillar.

"Sorry!" He cried and Wisp rolled her eyes and turned away, but they crashing into another rock. Wisp flicked her head up and snarled at him. She started to fly up until they were almost vertical and he held back a laugh.

"This is amazing!" He happily exclaimed into the wind. Suddenly the grip on her antennas and the balance on the saddle that he had was gone and he fell off. Wisp felt her control slip and she was falling through the sky with he. While Clumsy was flipping around in all directions, Wisp was screeching like a banshee. Clumsy tried to extend his arm to the creature, but she was still too far away.

"Just a little further..." He mumbled and by luck or fate the wind changed, blowing him over just enough for him to grab the saddle.

As quickly as possible Clumsy reseated himself and grabbed the antennas, pulling on them hard. Forced to go with the wind, they skinned the top of trees that seemed to grow horizontally out of the cliff. While trying to pull up, Wisp let out another harsh shrill cry. He tried to look through the fog and barely made out the maze of rock arches facing them.

Holding back a scream, he racked his brain for a solution before tightening his grip on her antennas and the saddle.

Wisp realised what he was thinking and tensed. The first pillar was a metre away from them, and there was no turning back now...


	12. Home

Clumsy quickly leaned left and Wisp followed the action by angling her body left, and they made it past the first pillar. Wisp quickly swerved back right and he tried to keep up; shifting his weight as well as another pillar flew past. He tried to keep up as Wisp did most of the work. Left, then right. Everything around them was a blur of grey rock, but there was something there.

Inside, waiting for the right moment.

Clumsy barely had enough time to think as Wisp seemed to roll in mid-air, not even noticing as the blood suddenly rushed to the Smurf's head and gravity tried to pull him down. They moved in synch, and within seconds they were out of the maze of stone and fog. The sky seemed to clear as they left the fog, returning to the clear blue they'd seen before.

Clumsy was panting, and slowly, he realised what they had done.

He could almost feel the happiness that seemed to be radiating off Wisp in waves, and he couldn't help but laugh as he threw his arms in the air. Closing his eyes as he took in the moment, he felt Wisp move under him and looked forward, before his face fell.

"Oh come on!" He groaned.

One important thing he learnt about Dragonflies. While Smurfs celebrated by cheering and jumping around, Dragonflies celebrate by creating a wall of fire and flying through it...

* * *

Clumsy shuttered, still trying to come to terms with what he and Wisp had done. They had both landed safely on a small cliff and Wisp had lit a small fire before sitting down against the rock floor, happily eating up the nut and berries Clumsy had gathered from the nearby bushes. Suddenly she looked up, as if she'd heard something, before shrugging it off and looking at her rider.

She suddenly coughed up some half eaten berry mush for him.

"Uh... no thank you." He said with a small smile as he shifted away from the goo. She snorted before going back to her own meal. Just then, a strange but familiar buzzing filled the air. Clumsy looked up and saw three young Dragonflies flying towards them as Wisp growled and crouched over her food. The first two Dragonflies landed and walked over to the larger one, while the latter stood away from the rest, watching Clumsy.

Ignoring the creature's look, Clumsy glanced over to where the other two Dragonflies had gone.

Wisp hadn't moved, and somehow managed to stand her ground while sitting. The younger two towered overhead, but it was obvious which way the picking order went. Wisp was in control of this, and neither of the younger beasts liked it. Wisp and one of the younger two started fighting, as the other sat down nearby. Clumsy looked to see the small one watching him again.

But it's eyes were occasionally went to the nuts and berries next to him.

An idea struck him and he slowly reached into the pile. The Dragonfly snarled, ready to defend itself if need be, but Clumsy saw it relax as he pulled out a boom berry. He hesitated, before tossing the creature the berry. The small beast caught the berry with ease and quickly sat down, happily eating the tasty treat. When the creature finished, it looked over him and her smiled softly.

Slowly, the Dragonfly stood, and walked closer to him.

Clumsy tried not to be bothered by the fact, when the young animal sat next to him, curling up against his said and falling asleep. As he stroked the creature's back he looked up just in time to see Wisp defeat the other Dragonfly. The defeated beast hissed in anger before taking off into the sky. The other one let out a chirp, awakening the Dragonfly next to Clumsy and they flew off too.

Clumsy watched the three magical creatures vanish from his sight and into the horizon, as he felt his heart fell to his stomach.

"Everything we smurf about you guys is wrong."...

* * *

Back at the village, things weren't going as well. Large ships started docking in the harbour, large holes and scorch marks everywhere. Claws looked like they'd been run up the side of the vessels and it was a miracle they still floated. Everysmurf silently got off the ship, and it was pretty obvious what had happened. Granny sighed as Willow walked up to her.

"I trust you smurfed the lair at least?" She asked calmly.

"Not even close." She sighed. "I hope you had a little more success than me." She added and Granny smirked, having been looking forward to telling the village leader all week.

"Well if you mean by success your Clumsy troubles are smurfed, than yes!" She cheered and Willow turned to her, eyes wide, as a group of Smurfs ran past them.

"Congratulations Willow, everyone is so smurfy!"

"Out with the old and smurf with the new right?"

"No one will miss that nuisance!"

"The village is smurfing a party to celebrate!" They all exclaimed as the group ran off to tell the others, and Willow's heart fell to her stomach.

"He's gone?" She mumbled, scared of the answer.

"Um...yes, most afternoons anyway, but who can smurf him? The life of a celebrity's very rough, he can barely smurf through the village without being smurfed by his new fans." The older Smurf chuckled.

"Clumsy?" Willow asked in shock.

"Who would've guessed it?" Granny shrugged. "He has this way with the Dragonflies, in fact, he's in the final two with Stormy to duel for the honor to smurf the Inferno." She smiled before walking off. Willow's eyes went wide, before a smile of pride appeared on her face...

* * *

Clumsy sighed as his tired face rested on the small wooden desk in his house, as he drew scribbles on a sheet of paper. He was trying to think of a way to stay on the saddle so he couldn't fall off. It had taken him almost all night, but he had managed to make his own harness with cables that attached to the saddle so he could stay on her back. All he needed to do now was to test it the next morning.

He side as he looked around the desk.

Previous drawings of Wisp littered the table and walls, a long forgotten notebook thrown open with scribbled notes on the pages. The lead broke on his pencil and he sighed, looking at the drawing of Wisp he didn't realised he'd been drawing. He turned to grab another pen, and saw Willow walk through the door. He had forgotten that she'd be back today.

Jumping off the chair, Clumsy quickly tried to cover up as many pictures as he could.

"Willow! You're back!" He exclaimed happily, but Willow glared at his and stepped into the room, frowning.

"I was looking for you." She said with a stoic voice, and Clumsy thought over the possibilities in his head, and was suddenly overcome by an impending sense of doom.

"Y-You were?"

"You've been smurfing something from me." She added and he leaned over his drawings, trying to sound casual.

"I ha-, I have?" He gulped.

"How long did you think you could smurf this from me?"

"I-I don't know what you're..."

"Nothing happens in this forest without me smurfing about it."

"So?"

"So, let's talk, about that Dragonfly." She frowned and Clumsy's drawings fell out from underneath his arm and he hung his head in defeat as they fell to the floor.

"Oh Willow, I'm so sorry! I-I was going to smurf you but I just didn't know how to-"

Suddenly, Willow started to laugh, and Clumsy's mind collapsed into confusion.

"You're... You're not... upset?" He asked fearfully.

"What? No! I was hoping for this!" She laughed and he raised an eyebrow.

"You were?"

"Believe me, it only gets better! Just wait until you finish training and get to go into battle with the others." She grinned and whatever tiny hope Clumsy had that Willow had had a change of heart about Dragonflies vanished.

"O-Oh." He mumbled.

"What a feeling! You really had me smurfing there, Clumsy! All those years of tripping up and smurfing everything you touched, I almost gave up and all this time you were smurfing out on me!" She smiled before reaching into her bag. "Um, I brought you something. So you can keep yourself safe." She said and handed him a dagger with a red gem in the handle.

"Whoa." He gasped as he examined the dagger.

"Carry it proudly, you deserve it, you've smurfed up your end of the deal." She smiled before turning away. "I should really smurf to bed."

"Thanks, Willow." He smiled weakly.

"Good night Clumsy." She smiled before she exited the house, and he sighed relieved. Clumsy quickly leaned down to pick up the discarded pages. Placing all the pages in the top drawer of his desk he sighed, before collapsing on the bed, worrying about the next day's training...


	13. Discovery

Blossom ran into the arena, almost cursing, just managing to open the door in time instead of slamming into it. Every Smurf in the village was there, all cheering and watching Clumsy and Stormy battling the Bottleneck.

"I can't believe I overslept! Today of all days!" Blossom muttered under her breath as she ran up the stairs to where Lily and Harmony were watching the due.

"What...What did I miss?" The hyperactive Smurf gasped for air.

"Not much." Harmony shrugged.

"Who's winning?"

"Not sure, they only just started." Lily replied as they continued to watch the battle...

* * *

Down in the arena, the Bottleneck was sniffing around for the two Smurfs that were both hiding behind one of the many barricades scattered around the arena. As they sat there, Stormy suddenly grabbed Clumsy's arm and glared into his eyes.

"Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing!" She hissed before quickly shooting off to hide behind another barricade. Clumsy swallowed the heavy lump in his throat as he gripped the spear in his hands and looked around. Everysmurf was staring at them, at him, with high expectations in their gazes. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to be in this arena but he knew that there was no way of walking out without them finding out about Wisp.

He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if they found his friend.

Suddenly he heard a rumbled growled. He felt his skin pale and freeze in fear as he slowly turned to his right and saw the Bottleneck dangerously close, snarling at him. Meanwhile, Stormy was behind a barricade nearby, mentally preparing herself for the fight ahead.

"This time, this time for sure!" She growled before jumping up and ready to attack the monster, only to see the Dragonfly lying on the ground and a nervous Clumsy standing next to it. "No! No, son of a half-troll, rat-eating, munge-bucket!" She screamed as she threw her spear to the ground in fury as the crowd erupted into cheers.

Clumsy started to back away to the exit in fear.

"Sorry, but I...uh...I'm kind of late for-"

"What?!" Stormy snarled as she grabbed his arm tightly. "Late for what, exactly?!"

Back in the crowd, Blossom, Harmony and Lily watched from the seats in amazement as everyone continued cheering.

"He actually won?" Harmony said, just barely being heard over the crowd..

"Even though Clumsy sucks at defending himself in a real fight, when he's in arena it's like he's a totally different Smurf!" Lily added. They quickly ran down the stairs to congratulate him. The other girls lifted him onto their shoulders, and while the klutz Smurf tried to keep his balance he saw Granny walk over to him and Stormy.

"Quiet down girls! Granny Smurf has decided." Willow called as Stormy and Clumsy stepped forward. Granny looked back and forth between them before breaking out in a grin.

"You've done it, Clumsy! You get to smurf the Inferno!" She exclaimed in joy and the crowd exploded with more cheers and congratulations.

Reality came crashing down on Clumsy and he remembered what he'd been fighting for, as it'd completely slipped his mind when the Bottleneck was inches from his face. As Stormy breathed fire and brimstone, Clumsy paled, vanishing into his own little world. Stormy, Lily, Blossom and Harmony watched at he was carried away by the crowd, and he forced a fake smile as everysmurf continued cheering.

"Great, I am so-"

* * *

"Leaving, we're leaving!" Clumsy called into the cove as he looked around for Wisp. He had his new riding harness on and a large sack with enough food and supplies inside to last both of them a week at least. He looked around and saw a shadow sat on Wisp's boulder.

"Looks like you and me and around a little vacation... forever." He sighed as he set the heavy sack and looked back up at the boulder, only to see Stormy sat there, examining one of her arrows.

"Stormy!" Clumsy cried in fear and shock. "W-what are you smurfing here?"

"I want to know what's going on." She glared as she slid off the boulder and began to walk over to the boy. "No one just gets as good as you do, especially you, are you training with somesmurf?"

"T-Training?" He gulped.

"It better not involve this." She hissed as she tugged on one of the shoulder pads on his harness and he fell, losing his balance. A dead twig snapped somewhere and Storm tensed, looking around, her warrior instincts aware they were not alone. Clumsy quickly got back onto his feet, panicking.

"You're right, I-I'm through with the lies." He laughed nervously. "I've been smurfing...landscapes! It's time everysmurf knew, drag me back here we go." He said as he reached for her hand, but she grabbed his and pulled it back to an unnatural angle. Clumsy crumbled to the ground, grabbing his wrist with his good hand.

"Ah! Why would you smurf that?!" He cried in pain.

"That's for beating me." She growled as she dropped the point of her bow into his stomach and he groaned in pain. "And that's for everything else." She hissed. A low growl suddenly came from behind them and Clumsy turned just in time to see a black shadow leap over his head, snarling and snapping. Stormy cried out and went to fire an arrow at Wisp.

Jumping up, Clumsy hit the weapon out of Stormy's hand, before running back in front of Wisp and blocking her attack.

"No! No Wisp, stop! She's a friend!" He cried and Wisp stopped her attack, before crouching prepared to pounce in case the warrior tried something. She watched, eyes wide and crazy as he placed an arm on the Dragonfly's back. "Y-you just scared her." He said as calmly as possible.

"I scared her?!" She exclaimed before she suddenly froze, glaring. "Who is 'her'?" She asked and Clumsy thought for a second, deciding the situation couldn't get any worse.

"Stormy, Wisp. Wisp, Stormy." He said and the Nightmare snarled again, and he winced. Stormy stood there in shock for a second, finally connecting the Dragonfly, the saddle and the harness. Then, she ran off into the forest.

"Da da da, we're smurfed." Clumsy groaned as Wisp stood up, stretched out her body, before shakily turning and walking off. Clumsy quickly ran after the dark beast in shock and frustration.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, where do you think you're smurfing?!"...


End file.
